<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 ùòÌÑ<³Pƒing=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=brf-header1>Stock Market Update</TD><TD class=brf-smalltext vAlign=baseline noWrap align=right>About this page | Print version</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=brf-smalltext>Analysis of market activity every half hour.</TD><TD class=brf-smalltext align=right>http://www.briefing.com/GeneralContent/Active/EmailThis/EmailThis.aspx</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=brf-smalltext colSpan=2>See also: | Stock Quotes | Stock Charts</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=pageDate>Updated: 14-Jun-05 16:27 ET</TD><TD class=brf-smalltext align=right>Major Indices | Intraday Charts: Dow | Nasdaq | S&P500</TD></TR><TR><TD>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- Content Begin--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:user="urn:www.briefing.com"><TBODY><TR class=sectionColor><TD class=rH colSpan=3>The market at 16:20 ET</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rD vAlign=top width="40%" colSpan=2>Dow: +25.01...
Nasdaq: +0.07... S&P: +3.09... </TD><TD class=rD with="60%">NYSE Vol: 1.31 bln.. Adv: 2058.. Dec: 1185
Nasdaq Vol: 1.43 bln.. Adv: 1739.. Dec: 1248</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3></TD></TR><TR class=sectionColor><TD class=rH>Moving the Market</TD><TD class=rL rowSpan=2>
</TD><TD class=rH>Sector Watch</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=rD rowSpan=2>10-yr note -4/32 at 4.11%
Good inflation news as May PPI declines 0.6% (consensus -0.2%) while core-PPI rises just 0.1% (consensus +0.2%) to leave yr/yr increase at 2.6%
Best Buy (BBY) tops Q2 consensus EPS by $0.21 and raises FY06 outlook</TD><TD class=rD>Strong: electronics retail, auto, general merchandise, distillers, homebuilding, apparel, managed care
Weak: education services, computer storage, wireless service, tobacco, gold, div. metals, application software, semis</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:user="urn:www.briefing.com"><TBODY><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>16:20 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +25.01 at 10547.57, Nasdaq +0.07 at 2069.03, S&P +3.09 at 1203.91</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Despite some notable economic data in the form of the Retail Sales and Producer Price Index reports for May, and better than expected earnings news from the likes of Best Buy (BBY 67.80, +8.68) and Lehman Bros. (LEH 96.05, +3.00), the major indices moved in laborious fashion Tuesday, holding close to the unchanged mark for the majority of the session... Altogether the trading action was uneventful and provided a firsthand glimpse at what the phrase "summer doldrums" means... The vapid showing was striking when taking into account that the combination of a worse than expected Retail Sales report and a better than expected PPI report provided a good economic mix of moderating growth and contained inflation that reinforced the notion that the Fed's tightening action should be nearing its end... Enthusiasm was held in check, however, by the realization that the Consumer Price Index - a more telling inflation report for Fed officials - was going to be released before Wednesday's open... Additionally, the market was buffeted by a lack of participation from the technology sector (-0.50%) and a lack of concerted buying interest in other economic sectors... Some exceptions in the latter regard included the Consumer Discretionary (+1.0%) and Health Care (+0.80%) sectors, which rode the coattails of Best Buy and Mylan Labs (MYL 19.58, +1.88), both of which increased their EPS outlook for the current fiscal year... Best Buy, in particular, generated a bid in a host of other retailers that spearheaded the Consumer Discretionary's sector's outperformance... Other standouts in that space included General Motors (GM 35.87, +1.42), which reportedly informed the UAW that an agreement to cut health care costs is needed by the end of this month, and Ford (F 10.82, +0.30), which jumped in response to Monday's late-breaking news its Hertz unit is planning an IPO... By and large, big moves in Tuesday's session were reserved for individual stocks like these and Lehman Bros.... The investment bank topped the Q2 (May) consensus EPS estimate of $2.23 by three cents and rallied as investors cheered the news, deeming it better than feared after Morgan Stanley's (MWD 50.60, -0.28) Q2 warning on Monday... Separately, the Treasury market spent most of its day on the defensive in a move that pundits attributed to a curve trade taking precedence over what would typically be considered to be supportive economic data... To that end, Retail Sales in May slipped 0.5% (consensus -0.2%) and sales, ex-auto, declined 0.2% (consensus +0.2%); meanwhile, PPI fell -0.6% (consensus -0.2%) while core-PPI, which excludes food and energy, increased just 0.1% (consensus +0.2%)... The 10-yr note shed 4 ticks, sending its yield up to 4.11%... As a reminder, the CPI report will be a focal point before Wednesday's open, but attention will eventually shift to OPEC's meeting in Vienna where it is expected the cartel will agree to a 500K barrel per day increase in production quotas... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 2058/1185. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1739/1248. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>15:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +27, Nasdaq -2, S&P +2.86</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Market is trying to perk up as the close approaches.... It is difficult to put much credence in any move, though, given the thin trading conditions at the NYSE and Nasdaq... It is worth noting that the Health Care sector (+0.90%) has pulled even with Consumer Discretionary (+0.90%) as the lead horse pulling the blue chip averages higher... Factors contributing to the outperformqance of the Health Care sector today include its defensive profile, as well as Mylan Labs' (MYL 19.53, +1.83) providing encouraging earnings guidance and announcing that it is increasing its share buyback and doubling its dividend.... Additionally, Banc of America raised its price target on WellPoint (WLP 69.67, +1.17) to $80 from $70 while Eli Lilly (LLY 57.74, +0.44) and Alkermes (ALKS 12.80, +0.55) received good news about their Phase 2 clinical study for inhaled insulin... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1954/1264. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1559/1400. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>15:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +20, Nasdaq -5, S&P +1.91</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Indices remain stuck in their respective ranges as buyers and sellers alike show little conviction... As a reminder, there is an OPEC meeting tomorrow in Vienna and it has been noted in press reports today that ministers will be considering a plan to endorse two increases to production quotas... On that note, it is widely believed OPEC will agree to at least a 500K barrel per day increase in production quotas... Talk regarding the possibility of a second increase took some steam out of crude futures, which have slipped $0.62 today to $55.00/bbl, but given that they haven't fallen to a larger degree, and that the stock market continues to languish, it can be argued that there isn't much confidence in OPEC's ability to curtail rising prices given underlying concerns that OPEC lacks the spare production capacity to do so... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1897/1288. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1504/1424. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>14:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +17, Nasdaq -4, S&P +1.83</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The indices have retraced the majority of the gains they logged near the top of the hour... The Nasdaq continues to lag its blue chip counterparts, but overall, it is the small-caps that are taking a point position on the performance curve... To wit, the Russell 2000 is up 0.4% today versus gains of 0.2% for the Dow and S&P, respectively... Conversely, the Nasdaq 100 (-0.4%) is on the other end of the performance spectrum as participants have taken little interest in the big-cap tech shares... That helps explain why the Nasdaq is showing a slight loss at the moment despite an A/D line that favors advancers by nearly a 4-to-3 margin... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 2019/1149. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1610/1289. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>14:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +45, Nasdaq +0.48, S&P +4.76</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices have gotten a booster shot in the past half hour... There hasn't been any specific news item that we're aware of to account for the uptick, but the unexpected spike has served as a reminder that there is often some increased volatility leading up to a quarterly options expiration, which is what will transpire this Friday... Whatever the cause, the Dow and S&P are sitting near their best levels of the day with the gains being spearheaded by the likes of General Motors (GM 35.88, +1.43), Wal-Mart (WMT 49.47, +1.19), Pfizer (PFE 28.37, +0.48), Best Buy (BBY 67.30, +8.18), Target (TGT 54.58, +1.25) and Lowe's (LOW)... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1788/1355. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1485/1377. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>13:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +13, Nasdaq -4, S&P +1.48</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Mixed activity with a downward drift being led by the tech sector... On that note, the tech sector was down 0.3% at mid-day, but is now down 0.6%... Again, that isn't a sizeable decline, but on a lackluster day like today, it stands out as a source of weakness... The S&P industry groups contributing to the tech pullback include computer storage (-2.0%), application software (-1.20%), and semiconductors (-1.00%)... Outside of the pockets of weakness, other S&P laggards include the tobacco (-1.60%), gold (-1.50%), wireless services (-1.80%), and education services (-2.00%) groups... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1767/1354. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1436/1398. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>13:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +22, Nasdaq -2, S&P +2.42</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trading action is the epitome of being caught in the summer doldrums as the major indices have traded in extremely narrow ranges all day... For the Dow, 37 points is all that separates the industrial average between its high and low today; for the Nasdaq, the range is 9 points; and for the S&P, it is just 4 points... Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%) remains the focal point of buyers... On another level, its outperformance, following what some are suggesting was a disappointing Retail Sales report for May, indicates that today's participants aren't bothered by the idea that a decline in retail sales in May is the start of a more meaningful slowdown in consumer spending... If anything, most are simply viewing it as a natural pullback following a strong April, as well as a natural consequence of the cool weather in May that restricted sales of seasonal merchandise... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1786/1313. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1460/1340. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>12:25 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +18, Nasdaq -3, S&P +1.97</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] No change to the prevailing trend as the afternoon session gets underway... The indices are still mixed and are vacillating in a narrow range... The tech sector (-0.35%) continues to drift lower and will be an important area to watch for directional cues as afternoon trading progresses... Tomorrow the market will direct its attention to the Consumer Price Index report... It is perhaps the most important piece of data this week as participants are looking for inflationary readings at the consumer level to serve as a guidepost for Fed members in setting monetary policy... The consensus estimate for CPI calls for a 0.1% increase and a 0.2% increase, excluding food and energy... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1764/1294. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1484/1329. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>12:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +26, Nasdaq -1, S&P +2.60</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The market received a batch of mixed economic data this morning, and fittingly, it has traded in mixed fashion throughout the morning... The data of note included the Retail Sales and PPI reports for May... The former came up short of consensus estimates while the latter was better than the market expected... As always, though, one needs to look beyond the headlines for a final analysis... Having done so, it is Briefing.com's conclusion that the retail sales data aren't as disappointing as one might think... To that end, we would draw our readers' attention to the fact that April retail sales, ex-auto, were revised up to 1.4% from 1.1%... Therefore, a 0.2% decline, ex-auto, in May simply reflects a natural cooldown from the very hot April pace... As for the PPI report, the market was correct to view it as encouraging, as the core rate, which excludes food and energy, rose just 0.1% to leave a yr/yr increase of 2.6%... Over the past four months, however, the core-rate of inflation is running at an annual rate of just 1.8%... What this suggests is that inflation at the producer level is well-contained... Be that as it may, the Treasury market has fallen off today, with the yield on the 10-yr note climbing to 4.11%... The backup in rates from a post-employment report low of 3.89% has been cited as an inhibiting factor for the stock market over the past few sessions... One can also cite a lack of convincing sector leadership as another reason - something that has proven to be the case again today... In essence, the Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%) and Health Care (+0.7%) sectors are the only areas exhibiting any notable strength; otherwise, the gains and/or losses in the remaining 8 economic sectors have been quite modest in scope... The tech sector (-0.3%) is the biggest pocket of "weakness" at this juncture that is holding back the broader market and is being followed by Telecom Services (-0.2%).... Best Buy (BBY 66.45, +7.33) is a key source of strength in the discretionary sector as the consumer electronics retailer posted an impressive Q1 (May) result that was replete with increased EPS guidance for FY06... This news put a bid in a number of other retailers and essentially mitigated any strong disappointment with respect to the May Retail Sales report... Lehman Bros. (LEH 95.32, +2.27) was the other big reporter this morning and the investment bank topped the consensus EPS estimate of $2.23 by three cents... Investors responded in guarded fashion at first, but warmed up to the stock as the morning progressed as LEH's result was determined to be better than feared following Morgan Stanley's (MWD 50.60, -0.28) warning yesterday... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1760/1288. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1472/1308. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>11:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +16, Nasdaq -1, S&P +1.79</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] More of the same with the indices trudging along in indecisive fashion... It is overstating things to say that the tech sector (-0.2%) is weak today, but on a relative basis, it is the laggard of note at this juncture that is acting as a restraint on the broader market... Concerns the sector has gotten ahead of itself have stood in the way of follow through buying interest... Separately, crude futures (-$0.12 at $55.50), which surged 3.9% on Monday, are little changed ahead of tomorrow's OPEC meeting in Vienna... ..SOX -0.4%. ..Nasdaq 100 -0.3%. ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1662/1267. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1378/1301. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>11:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +5, Nasdaq -2, S&P +0.42</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Major indices have been confined to narrow trading ranges that have kept them fairly close to the unchanged mark since the session began... Just not a lot of convincing leadership to be found at the moment as the Consumer Discretionary sector (+0.8%) is the biggest mover to this point; the other nine economic sectors have gains and/or losses ranging from -0.20% to +0.20%... Within the Dow, General Motors (GM 35.58, +1.13) tops the list of winning issues while Altria Group (MO 66.89, -1.43) brings up the rear... The latter component is on the defensive following news the Illinois Supreme Court won't be announcing the Price "Lights" decision on June 16... Smith Barney thinks this likely means a decision isn't likely until the court reconvenes in September and has noted that it expects MO to be weak over the next few days as a result... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1624/1280. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1359/1279. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>10:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +13, Nasdaq -0.67, S&P +1.12</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Not the most scintillating trading action to begin the day as the indices haven't ventured too far from the unchanged mark... There are some individual moves of note, though, like Best Buy (BBY 65.59, +6.47), which duly impressed the Street with its fiscal Q1 (May) earnings report, and General Motors (GM 35.51, +1.06), which is running on reports the company has informed the UAW that an agreement to cut health care costs is needed by the end of this month... Separately, it has been noted that Richmond Fed President Lacker has remarked this morning that he is pleased with inflation expectations, but that he believes it is too early to say where rates will stop... Fed Governor Bies, meanwhile, has indicated, according to Reuters, that regulators worry that in "the inevitable downturn," credit quality could deteriorate to the extent that some banks would experience significant losses... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1568/1216. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1420/1107. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>10:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +27, Nasdaq +4, S&P +2.40</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Market is making a push to the upside, but buying efforts are modest in scope.... The broader market's positive disposition is owed in large part to gains within the Consumer Discretionary (+0.70%) sector... Strength in that area comes in the wake of a weaker than expected Retail Sales report for May; however, concerns about the 0.2% decline in sales, ex-auto, were tempered by the realization that the result was a natural cooldown from a very hot April in which sales, ex-auto, were up 1.4% (revised from +1.1%)... In turn, Best Buy's (BBY 65.79, +6.67) reassuring earnings news and outlook has underpinned expectations that consumer spending will remain solid as the year progresses... Leadership groups within sector include consumer electronics retailers (+9.0%), auto manufacturers (+5.0%), auto parts (+1.90%), general merchandise (+1.30%), and department stores (+1.10%)... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1253/1222. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1251/1025. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>09:40 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +20, Nasdaq +1, S&P +1.43</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] A modestly positive start, yet participants look to be taking their time getting involved in the proceedings... A notable exception in that regard is Best Buy (BBY 64.75, +5.63), which is soaring in active trading after the consumer electronics retailer delivered a fantastic Q1 (May) earnings report.... BBY topped the consensus EPS estimate by $0.21 and raised its EPS outlook for FY06 to $3.10-3.25 from $2.95-3.10... Lehman Bros. (LEH 93.44, +0.39) was another notable reporter today, but the reaction to its better than expected Q2 (May) profit of $2.26 per share (consensus $2.23) has been tepid at best as investors had been hoping for more upside in light of the firm's recent earnings history... Over the past four quarters, LEH has topped consensus EPS estimates by an average of $0.31.</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>09:12 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.5. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>08:56 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +3.5. Futures trade is losing some momentum, but still points to a positive start for stocks... The PPI and Retail Sales data are in-line with the view that inflation remains under control and that consumer spending is growing at a slightly slower pace than recent months - a good mix that will support the notion that the Fed's tightening action should be nearing its end... Separately, Lehman Bros. (LEH) beat Q2 EPS estimates by $0.03 in posting a profit of $2.26 per share</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>08:34 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.5. Market receives good news on the inflation front as PPI fell -0.6% (consensus -0.2%) while core-PPI increased just 0.1% (consensus +0.2%)... Retail Sales data, though, were a bit disappointing with total sales slipping 0.5% (consensus -0.2%) and sales, ex-auto, declining 0.2% (consensus +0.2%)... Futures market has gotten a slight boost from the mixed batch of data and continues to point to a modestly higher start for the cash market</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>08:14 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +4.0. Cash market appears poised for a modestly positive start as better than expected earnings news and guidance from Best Buy (BBY) and a welcome decision by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to split its PC and printer divisions have acted as sources of support... A stronger trading cue will be provided at 08:30 ET, however, with the release of the Retail Sales and PPI reports for May... Economists are expecting a 0.2% decline in Retail Sales, but a 0.2% increase ex-auto; for PPI, the market is expecting a 0.2% decline, but core-PPI is projected to be up 0.2%</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>07:55 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +0.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.5. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>06:31 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...5046.90...-3.50...-0.1%. DAX...4592.15...-7.06...-0.2%.</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>06:31 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.1. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.0. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>06:31 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...11335.92...+24.41...+0.2%. Hang Seng...13904.81...-47.21...-0.3%.</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>16:20 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +9.93 at 10522.56, Nasdaq +5.96 at 2068.96, S&P +2.71 at 1200.82</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market held its ground today in the face of an earnings warning from Morgan Stanley (MWD 50.88, +1.00) and a surge in oil prices ahead of OPEC's meeting Wednesday in Vienna... Its resilience can be attributed mostly to the gains registered in the telecom services (+1.0%), basic materials (+0.7%), health care (+0.5%) and technology (+0.4%) sectors, but it can't be said that there was a lot of conviction behind those buying efforts... To wit, volume at the NYSE and Nasdaq was on the light side as participants held their respective interests in check, mindful that a batch of important, and telling, economic data is on the horizon... Specifically, there are the Retail Sales and PPI reports on Tuesday, the CPI and Industrial Production reports on Wednesday, Housing Starts on Thursday, and the Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report on Friday... That said, there was a rally effort made in the morning session that saw the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P gain 77, 15, and 8 points, respectively, at their best levels of the session... There wasn't a specific news item that served as an excuse for that uptick, but it was noted that the rally try in equities coincided with a retreat in the Treasury market... Accordingly, there was speculation that the move had to do with an asset allocation trade that favored the technology and basic materials sectors... The move was short-lived, though, as the indices spent the better part of the afternoon retracing the gains posted in the morning session.... Rising oil prices were a factor in that pullback as crude futures (+$2.08) moving back above $55/barrel provided an excuse to sell into the early strength... The move in oil was attributed to the oft-cited concern about supply being inadequate to meet demand... In this instance, it was driven by a belief that OPEC, despite any effort to raise production quotas at this week's meeting, doesn't have the spare production capacity necessary to curtail energy prices in a meaningful way... Separately, it is worth noting that the financial sector (+0.02%) saw its morning strength fade in the afternoon which, in turn, acted as an influential weight on the broader market... The consumer staples (-0.3%) and industrials (-0.01%) sectors, however, were the only economic sectors that failed to post a gain on Monday... In corporate news, the biggest story of the day was the announcement by Morgan Stanley's CEO, Philip Purcell, that he would be retiring on account of the negative media attention surrounding his management and the mass defections of late by key personnel... This news, in effect, overshadowed a separate announcement from Morgan Stanley that it expected Q2 EPS to come in well below consensus estimates due to weakened market conditions... On a brighter note, United Technologies (UTX 52.72, +0.26) reaffirmed its FY05 EPS outlook and joined with the likes of Caterpillar (CAT 97.58, +0.56), AIG Group (AIG 55.50, +0.41), and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 23.89, +0.47) to produce a positive finish for the Dow... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1869/1406. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1610/1391. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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Nasdaq: +0.07... S&P: +3.09... </TD><TD class=rD with="60%">NYSE Vol: 1.31 bln.. Adv: 2058.. Dec: 1185
Nasdaq Vol: 1.43 bln.. Adv: 1739.. Dec: 1248</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3></TD></TR><TR class=sectionColor><TD class=rH>Moving the Market</TD><TD class=rL rowSpan=2>
Good inflation news as May PPI declines 0.6% (consensus -0.2%) while core-PPI rises just 0.1% (consensus +0.2%) to leave yr/yr increase at 2.6%
Best Buy (BBY) tops Q2 consensus EPS by $0.21 and raises FY06 outlook</TD><TD class=rD>Strong: electronics retail, auto, general merchandise, distillers, homebuilding, apparel, managed care
Weak: education services, computer storage, wireless service, tobacco, gold, div. metals, application software, semis</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:user="urn:www.briefing.com"><TBODY><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>16:20 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +25.01 at 10547.57, Nasdaq +0.07 at 2069.03, S&P +3.09 at 1203.91</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Despite some notable economic data in the form of the Retail Sales and Producer Price Index reports for May, and better than expected earnings news from the likes of Best Buy (BBY 67.80, +8.68) and Lehman Bros. (LEH 96.05, +3.00), the major indices moved in laborious fashion Tuesday, holding close to the unchanged mark for the majority of the session... Altogether the trading action was uneventful and provided a firsthand glimpse at what the phrase "summer doldrums" means... The vapid showing was striking when taking into account that the combination of a worse than expected Retail Sales report and a better than expected PPI report provided a good economic mix of moderating growth and contained inflation that reinforced the notion that the Fed's tightening action should be nearing its end... Enthusiasm was held in check, however, by the realization that the Consumer Price Index - a more telling inflation report for Fed officials - was going to be released before Wednesday's open... Additionally, the market was buffeted by a lack of participation from the technology sector (-0.50%) and a lack of concerted buying interest in other economic sectors... Some exceptions in the latter regard included the Consumer Discretionary (+1.0%) and Health Care (+0.80%) sectors, which rode the coattails of Best Buy and Mylan Labs (MYL 19.58, +1.88), both of which increased their EPS outlook for the current fiscal year... Best Buy, in particular, generated a bid in a host of other retailers that spearheaded the Consumer Discretionary's sector's outperformance... Other standouts in that space included General Motors (GM 35.87, +1.42), which reportedly informed the UAW that an agreement to cut health care costs is needed by the end of this month, and Ford (F 10.82, +0.30), which jumped in response to Monday's late-breaking news its Hertz unit is planning an IPO... By and large, big moves in Tuesday's session were reserved for individual stocks like these and Lehman Bros.... The investment bank topped the Q2 (May) consensus EPS estimate of $2.23 by three cents and rallied as investors cheered the news, deeming it better than feared after Morgan Stanley's (MWD 50.60, -0.28) Q2 warning on Monday... Separately, the Treasury market spent most of its day on the defensive in a move that pundits attributed to a curve trade taking precedence over what would typically be considered to be supportive economic data... To that end, Retail Sales in May slipped 0.5% (consensus -0.2%) and sales, ex-auto, declined 0.2% (consensus +0.2%); meanwhile, PPI fell -0.6% (consensus -0.2%) while core-PPI, which excludes food and energy, increased just 0.1% (consensus +0.2%)... The 10-yr note shed 4 ticks, sending its yield up to 4.11%... As a reminder, the CPI report will be a focal point before Wednesday's open, but attention will eventually shift to OPEC's meeting in Vienna where it is expected the cartel will agree to a 500K barrel per day increase in production quotas... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 2058/1185. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1739/1248. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>15:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +27, Nasdaq -2, S&P +2.86</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Market is trying to perk up as the close approaches.... It is difficult to put much credence in any move, though, given the thin trading conditions at the NYSE and Nasdaq... It is worth noting that the Health Care sector (+0.90%) has pulled even with Consumer Discretionary (+0.90%) as the lead horse pulling the blue chip averages higher... Factors contributing to the outperformqance of the Health Care sector today include its defensive profile, as well as Mylan Labs' (MYL 19.53, +1.83) providing encouraging earnings guidance and announcing that it is increasing its share buyback and doubling its dividend.... Additionally, Banc of America raised its price target on WellPoint (WLP 69.67, +1.17) to $80 from $70 while Eli Lilly (LLY 57.74, +0.44) and Alkermes (ALKS 12.80, +0.55) received good news about their Phase 2 clinical study for inhaled insulin... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1954/1264. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1559/1400. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>15:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +20, Nasdaq -5, S&P +1.91</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Indices remain stuck in their respective ranges as buyers and sellers alike show little conviction... As a reminder, there is an OPEC meeting tomorrow in Vienna and it has been noted in press reports today that ministers will be considering a plan to endorse two increases to production quotas... On that note, it is widely believed OPEC will agree to at least a 500K barrel per day increase in production quotas... Talk regarding the possibility of a second increase took some steam out of crude futures, which have slipped $0.62 today to $55.00/bbl, but given that they haven't fallen to a larger degree, and that the stock market continues to languish, it can be argued that there isn't much confidence in OPEC's ability to curtail rising prices given underlying concerns that OPEC lacks the spare production capacity to do so... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1897/1288. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1504/1424. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>14:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +17, Nasdaq -4, S&P +1.83</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The indices have retraced the majority of the gains they logged near the top of the hour... The Nasdaq continues to lag its blue chip counterparts, but overall, it is the small-caps that are taking a point position on the performance curve... To wit, the Russell 2000 is up 0.4% today versus gains of 0.2% for the Dow and S&P, respectively... Conversely, the Nasdaq 100 (-0.4%) is on the other end of the performance spectrum as participants have taken little interest in the big-cap tech shares... That helps explain why the Nasdaq is showing a slight loss at the moment despite an A/D line that favors advancers by nearly a 4-to-3 margin... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 2019/1149. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1610/1289. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>14:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +45, Nasdaq +0.48, S&P +4.76</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices have gotten a booster shot in the past half hour... There hasn't been any specific news item that we're aware of to account for the uptick, but the unexpected spike has served as a reminder that there is often some increased volatility leading up to a quarterly options expiration, which is what will transpire this Friday... Whatever the cause, the Dow and S&P are sitting near their best levels of the day with the gains being spearheaded by the likes of General Motors (GM 35.88, +1.43), Wal-Mart (WMT 49.47, +1.19), Pfizer (PFE 28.37, +0.48), Best Buy (BBY 67.30, +8.18), Target (TGT 54.58, +1.25) and Lowe's (LOW)... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1788/1355. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1485/1377. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>13:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +13, Nasdaq -4, S&P +1.48</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Mixed activity with a downward drift being led by the tech sector... On that note, the tech sector was down 0.3% at mid-day, but is now down 0.6%... Again, that isn't a sizeable decline, but on a lackluster day like today, it stands out as a source of weakness... The S&P industry groups contributing to the tech pullback include computer storage (-2.0%), application software (-1.20%), and semiconductors (-1.00%)... Outside of the pockets of weakness, other S&P laggards include the tobacco (-1.60%), gold (-1.50%), wireless services (-1.80%), and education services (-2.00%) groups... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1767/1354. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1436/1398. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>13:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +22, Nasdaq -2, S&P +2.42</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trading action is the epitome of being caught in the summer doldrums as the major indices have traded in extremely narrow ranges all day... For the Dow, 37 points is all that separates the industrial average between its high and low today; for the Nasdaq, the range is 9 points; and for the S&P, it is just 4 points... Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%) remains the focal point of buyers... On another level, its outperformance, following what some are suggesting was a disappointing Retail Sales report for May, indicates that today's participants aren't bothered by the idea that a decline in retail sales in May is the start of a more meaningful slowdown in consumer spending... If anything, most are simply viewing it as a natural pullback following a strong April, as well as a natural consequence of the cool weather in May that restricted sales of seasonal merchandise... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1786/1313. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1460/1340. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>12:25 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +18, Nasdaq -3, S&P +1.97</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] No change to the prevailing trend as the afternoon session gets underway... The indices are still mixed and are vacillating in a narrow range... The tech sector (-0.35%) continues to drift lower and will be an important area to watch for directional cues as afternoon trading progresses... Tomorrow the market will direct its attention to the Consumer Price Index report... It is perhaps the most important piece of data this week as participants are looking for inflationary readings at the consumer level to serve as a guidepost for Fed members in setting monetary policy... The consensus estimate for CPI calls for a 0.1% increase and a 0.2% increase, excluding food and energy... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1764/1294. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1484/1329. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>12:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +26, Nasdaq -1, S&P +2.60</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The market received a batch of mixed economic data this morning, and fittingly, it has traded in mixed fashion throughout the morning... The data of note included the Retail Sales and PPI reports for May... The former came up short of consensus estimates while the latter was better than the market expected... As always, though, one needs to look beyond the headlines for a final analysis... Having done so, it is Briefing.com's conclusion that the retail sales data aren't as disappointing as one might think... To that end, we would draw our readers' attention to the fact that April retail sales, ex-auto, were revised up to 1.4% from 1.1%... Therefore, a 0.2% decline, ex-auto, in May simply reflects a natural cooldown from the very hot April pace... As for the PPI report, the market was correct to view it as encouraging, as the core rate, which excludes food and energy, rose just 0.1% to leave a yr/yr increase of 2.6%... Over the past four months, however, the core-rate of inflation is running at an annual rate of just 1.8%... What this suggests is that inflation at the producer level is well-contained... Be that as it may, the Treasury market has fallen off today, with the yield on the 10-yr note climbing to 4.11%... The backup in rates from a post-employment report low of 3.89% has been cited as an inhibiting factor for the stock market over the past few sessions... One can also cite a lack of convincing sector leadership as another reason - something that has proven to be the case again today... In essence, the Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%) and Health Care (+0.7%) sectors are the only areas exhibiting any notable strength; otherwise, the gains and/or losses in the remaining 8 economic sectors have been quite modest in scope... The tech sector (-0.3%) is the biggest pocket of "weakness" at this juncture that is holding back the broader market and is being followed by Telecom Services (-0.2%).... Best Buy (BBY 66.45, +7.33) is a key source of strength in the discretionary sector as the consumer electronics retailer posted an impressive Q1 (May) result that was replete with increased EPS guidance for FY06... This news put a bid in a number of other retailers and essentially mitigated any strong disappointment with respect to the May Retail Sales report... Lehman Bros. (LEH 95.32, +2.27) was the other big reporter this morning and the investment bank topped the consensus EPS estimate of $2.23 by three cents... Investors responded in guarded fashion at first, but warmed up to the stock as the morning progressed as LEH's result was determined to be better than feared following Morgan Stanley's (MWD 50.60, -0.28) warning yesterday... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1760/1288. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1472/1308. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>11:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +16, Nasdaq -1, S&P +1.79</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] More of the same with the indices trudging along in indecisive fashion... It is overstating things to say that the tech sector (-0.2%) is weak today, but on a relative basis, it is the laggard of note at this juncture that is acting as a restraint on the broader market... Concerns the sector has gotten ahead of itself have stood in the way of follow through buying interest... Separately, crude futures (-$0.12 at $55.50), which surged 3.9% on Monday, are little changed ahead of tomorrow's OPEC meeting in Vienna... ..SOX -0.4%. ..Nasdaq 100 -0.3%. ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1662/1267. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1378/1301. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>11:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +5, Nasdaq -2, S&P +0.42</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Major indices have been confined to narrow trading ranges that have kept them fairly close to the unchanged mark since the session began... Just not a lot of convincing leadership to be found at the moment as the Consumer Discretionary sector (+0.8%) is the biggest mover to this point; the other nine economic sectors have gains and/or losses ranging from -0.20% to +0.20%... Within the Dow, General Motors (GM 35.58, +1.13) tops the list of winning issues while Altria Group (MO 66.89, -1.43) brings up the rear... The latter component is on the defensive following news the Illinois Supreme Court won't be announcing the Price "Lights" decision on June 16... Smith Barney thinks this likely means a decision isn't likely until the court reconvenes in September and has noted that it expects MO to be weak over the next few days as a result... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1624/1280. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1359/1279. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>10:30 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +13, Nasdaq -0.67, S&P +1.12</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Not the most scintillating trading action to begin the day as the indices haven't ventured too far from the unchanged mark... There are some individual moves of note, though, like Best Buy (BBY 65.59, +6.47), which duly impressed the Street with its fiscal Q1 (May) earnings report, and General Motors (GM 35.51, +1.06), which is running on reports the company has informed the UAW that an agreement to cut health care costs is needed by the end of this month... Separately, it has been noted that Richmond Fed President Lacker has remarked this morning that he is pleased with inflation expectations, but that he believes it is too early to say where rates will stop... Fed Governor Bies, meanwhile, has indicated, according to Reuters, that regulators worry that in "the inevitable downturn," credit quality could deteriorate to the extent that some banks would experience significant losses... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1568/1216. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1420/1107. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>10:00 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +27, Nasdaq +4, S&P +2.40</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Market is making a push to the upside, but buying efforts are modest in scope.... The broader market's positive disposition is owed in large part to gains within the Consumer Discretionary (+0.70%) sector... Strength in that area comes in the wake of a weaker than expected Retail Sales report for May; however, concerns about the 0.2% decline in sales, ex-auto, were tempered by the realization that the result was a natural cooldown from a very hot April in which sales, ex-auto, were up 1.4% (revised from +1.1%)... In turn, Best Buy's (BBY 65.79, +6.67) reassuring earnings news and outlook has underpinned expectations that consumer spending will remain solid as the year progresses... Leadership groups within sector include consumer electronics retailers (+9.0%), auto manufacturers (+5.0%), auto parts (+1.90%), general merchandise (+1.30%), and department stores (+1.10%)... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1253/1222. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1251/1025. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>09:40 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +20, Nasdaq +1, S&P +1.43</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] A modestly positive start, yet participants look to be taking their time getting involved in the proceedings... A notable exception in that regard is Best Buy (BBY 64.75, +5.63), which is soaring in active trading after the consumer electronics retailer delivered a fantastic Q1 (May) earnings report.... BBY topped the consensus EPS estimate by $0.21 and raised its EPS outlook for FY06 to $3.10-3.25 from $2.95-3.10... Lehman Bros. (LEH 93.44, +0.39) was another notable reporter today, but the reaction to its better than expected Q2 (May) profit of $2.26 per share (consensus $2.23) has been tepid at best as investors had been hoping for more upside in light of the firm's recent earnings history... Over the past four quarters, LEH has topped consensus EPS estimates by an average of $0.31.</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>09:12 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.5. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>08:56 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +3.5. Futures trade is losing some momentum, but still points to a positive start for stocks... The PPI and Retail Sales data are in-line with the view that inflation remains under control and that consumer spending is growing at a slightly slower pace than recent months - a good mix that will support the notion that the Fed's tightening action should be nearing its end... Separately, Lehman Bros. (LEH) beat Q2 EPS estimates by $0.03 in posting a profit of $2.26 per share</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>08:34 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.5. Market receives good news on the inflation front as PPI fell -0.6% (consensus -0.2%) while core-PPI increased just 0.1% (consensus +0.2%)... Retail Sales data, though, were a bit disappointing with total sales slipping 0.5% (consensus -0.2%) and sales, ex-auto, declining 0.2% (consensus +0.2%)... Futures market has gotten a slight boost from the mixed batch of data and continues to point to a modestly higher start for the cash market</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>08:14 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +4.0. Cash market appears poised for a modestly positive start as better than expected earnings news and guidance from Best Buy (BBY) and a welcome decision by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to split its PC and printer divisions have acted as sources of support... A stronger trading cue will be provided at 08:30 ET, however, with the release of the Retail Sales and PPI reports for May... Economists are expecting a 0.2% decline in Retail Sales, but a 0.2% increase ex-auto; for PPI, the market is expecting a 0.2% decline, but core-PPI is projected to be up 0.2%</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>07:55 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +0.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.5. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>06:31 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...5046.90...-3.50...-0.1%. DAX...4592.15...-7.06...-0.2%.</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>06:31 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art> [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.1. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.0. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>06:31 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Market is Closed </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...11335.92...+24.41...+0.2%. Hang Seng...13904.81...-47.21...-0.3%.</TD></TR><TR><TD height=14></TD></TR><TR><TD class=st-Time vAlign=baseline noWrap>16:20 ET </TD><TD class=storyTitle vAlign=top>Dow +9.93 at 10522.56, Nasdaq +5.96 at 2068.96, S&P +2.71 at 1200.82</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=st-Art>[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market held its ground today in the face of an earnings warning from Morgan Stanley (MWD 50.88, +1.00) and a surge in oil prices ahead of OPEC's meeting Wednesday in Vienna... Its resilience can be attributed mostly to the gains registered in the telecom services (+1.0%), basic materials (+0.7%), health care (+0.5%) and technology (+0.4%) sectors, but it can't be said that there was a lot of conviction behind those buying efforts... To wit, volume at the NYSE and Nasdaq was on the light side as participants held their respective interests in check, mindful that a batch of important, and telling, economic data is on the horizon... Specifically, there are the Retail Sales and PPI reports on Tuesday, the CPI and Industrial Production reports on Wednesday, Housing Starts on Thursday, and the Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report on Friday... That said, there was a rally effort made in the morning session that saw the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P gain 77, 15, and 8 points, respectively, at their best levels of the session... There wasn't a specific news item that served as an excuse for that uptick, but it was noted that the rally try in equities coincided with a retreat in the Treasury market... Accordingly, there was speculation that the move had to do with an asset allocation trade that favored the technology and basic materials sectors... The move was short-lived, though, as the indices spent the better part of the afternoon retracing the gains posted in the morning session.... Rising oil prices were a factor in that pullback as crude futures (+$2.08) moving back above $55/barrel provided an excuse to sell into the early strength... The move in oil was attributed to the oft-cited concern about supply being inadequate to meet demand... In this instance, it was driven by a belief that OPEC, despite any effort to raise production quotas at this week's meeting, doesn't have the spare production capacity necessary to curtail energy prices in a meaningful way... Separately, it is worth noting that the financial sector (+0.02%) saw its morning strength fade in the afternoon which, in turn, acted as an influential weight on the broader market... The consumer staples (-0.3%) and industrials (-0.01%) sectors, however, were the only economic sectors that failed to post a gain on Monday... In corporate news, the biggest story of the day was the announcement by Morgan Stanley's CEO, Philip Purcell, that he would be retiring on account of the negative media attention surrounding his management and the mass defections of late by key personnel... This news, in effect, overshadowed a separate announcement from Morgan Stanley that it expected Q2 EPS to come in well below consensus estimates due to weakened market conditions... On a brighter note, United Technologies (UTX 52.72, +0.26) reaffirmed its FY05 EPS outlook and joined with the likes of Caterpillar (CAT 97.58, +0.56), AIG Group (AIG 55.50, +0.41), and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 23.89, +0.47) to produce a positive finish for the Dow... ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1869/1406. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1610/1391. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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